I spoke with Marie-France Therrien, a representative for the Joint Review Panel, who informed me that that have decided that direct email submissions will not be included under guidelines established by the National Energy Board. Under the CEAA, not only have direct email submissions been included in a review, but so have letters to key members of parliament concerning a project. The two submissions by email that had been posted have been removed.

Submissions on their website are currently limited to responding to a very precise set of questions. Even though Panel Sessions are already underway in some communities, general comments from the public are not being accepted online.

This is an excellent example of how doing reviews under the NEB is far less accessible and open to the public than under the direction of the CEAA. This is a blow to meaningful public participation in the assessment process.

I have sent in these concerns to the JRP using their online form. Please continue to use our online Take Action letter as it sends letters to key members of parliament, and if the JRP is concerned with establishing the NEB as an organization that respects the precedent that has been set with meaningful public participation it will hopefully reconsider and include email submissions in the process